Every time I see the commercial, I keep wondering where the classic Guardians are.

"House plant and muscle." hee hee.

I don't know who you consider the "classic" Guardians, but Vance Astro, Yondu, Martinex, Charlie 27, Nikki, Starhawk, etc...the Guardians that I grew up with, should be in the far flung future.

As for Gamora's power levels, she's an unfortunate victim of the Jim Starlin syndrome. As a crafter of epic struggles against epic villains, I love Jim Starlin. As a quantifier of exactly what a character is capable of, he's not really my favorite guy. Usually his stories have one or two badass main characters, then a bunch of supporting characters who are there, but not really developed. Gamora appeared as one of the supporting cast of his Adam Warlock stories, but since she wasn't Adam Warlock OR the Magus, she was mostly around as background dressing. Much like Pip the Troll and High Evolutionary's New Men (the background cast in Warlock's early adventures), Starlin didn't put much effort into defining what they could do and why they were around. People forget, the same thing happened with Starlin's Captain Marvel stories, where Thanos really stepped into the limelight as a Cosmic "Big Bad". Mar-Vell was pretty well defined. Thanos was pretty well-defined (as simply being more tough at everything than everyone). Everyone else was pretty much just... there. Eros of Titan was Mar-Vell's best buddy and brawling companion and we knew he could fly, was probably super-strong (he hung with Marv in just about every fight) and had access to advanced Titanian technology (Jack Kirby hadn't done his New Gods macguffin The Eternals, for Marvel yet, so it was Titanian, not Eternal). His abilities did not actually become more clearly defined until he served a stint in the Avengers (years later). Moondragon was bald...and a telepath (supposedly a badass, but in pure Starlin fashion, her biggest defining feature was...bald chick). Drax the Destroyer was created by Chronos to defeat Thanos and was theoretically this mostrously powerful, rampaging force, with little else on his mind than killing the big T. He was also immortal. Thanos could could kill him and kill him and kill him, but as long as Thanos existed, he would keep coming back. He was theoretically more powerful in the presence of Thanos, but it wasn't really very accurately portrayed and while he was hell on the surrounding geopraphy (cosmography?), he didn't seem to fluctuate in power much. He was mean. He was a badass, but he wasn't the hero or the villain, so Mar-Vell and Thanos both beat him in combat when required.

Mar-Vell's supporting cast became more active in the MU as a whole (meaning they came to earth) and therefore got more exact definition. Warlock's on the other hand was mostly forgotten, therefore remained as Starlin had defined them, which means anyone who wasn't Adam Warlock had a distinctive look and maybe a personality quirk, but little more than that.

Starlin did this alot. His Dreadstar series follows pretty much the same formula. Vanth Dreadstar, Syzygy Darklock and the major villain Lord Papal (basically Thanos done as the pope) were developed. The rest of the cast, not so much. Willow was a "cybernatic telepath", Oedi was a "cat-like" humanoid and Skeevo was a freebooter and also comic relief. His single biggest defining feature was he was purple.

This being the case, it's not a huge surprise that Gamora has a lot of "fuzzy areas" as far as definition of her abilities go. I mean her big, defining characteristic was "green chick", when Starlin introduced her. All things being equal, I'd say these builds reflect the characters as well as any other build (except Drax, he seems a bit underpowered to me).

For me I've always gone with the notion that as ""the most dangerous woman in the galaxy"" she was on par with Zealot as a fighter both in terms of physical abilities --low superhuman-- and fighting skills basically best in the galaxy at most fighting styles.

She does end up sometimes getting into fuzzy areas as Jab said though, one minutes shes kicking the hulk in the banners, and the next shes barely holding her own against a group of mook space pirates

Dr. Silverback has wryly observed that this is like trying to teach lolcats about Shakespeare

Many campaigns are based on existing settings. While it is always a blast to run or play in an original campaign -- allowing the GM to create a new world with its own heroes and rules -- sometimes it is even more fun to play with the toys we all grew up with. My buddy Marc ran an original sci-fi setting based on the idea of Star Trek, but then he ran an actual Star Trek campaign. This allowed us to play with the props, like our toy phasers, communicators, and tricorders.

Even while running a campaign based on existing properties, a GM will often want to add a few twists to a campaign. These little things can be used to keep the players on their toes.

When it comes to my Marvel Universe campaign, I am planning to draw upon comic book properties used by Marvel to add additional touches to the setting.

Here are some examples of properties one can use:

The A-TeamBattlestar GalacticaBuckaroo BanzaiCaptain Planet and the PlaneteersCaptain Savage and his Leatherneck Raiders (Pacific version of the Howling Commandos, starring submarine Capt. Simon Savage of the USS Sea Wolf)Care BearsConanCrystar (He-Man with crystal theme)Defenders of the Earth (Flash Gordon, Phantom, Mandrake)Dino-RidersDisney's GargoylesG.I. Joe (many Joes can be used as SHIELD agents, while Cobra operatives can be used for HYDRA or Sons of the Serpent).GodzillaHellraiser (Think about what might happen when the superheroes encounter the BOX!)Indiana Jones (a pulp-era adventurer who could have fought alongside Captain America!)InhumanoidsJawsJames BondJem and the Holograms (a rival for Dazzler?)LabyrinthMasters of the Universe (perhaps some new characters who are Asgardians or Eternals? On the other hand, with its mix of magic and technology, Eternia could be a good stand-in for the events of Otherworld)MicronautsPirates of DarkwaterPower RangersRed SonjaRoboCop (an outreach of the Deathlok project)Rom the SpaceknightSectaurs: Warriors of Symbion (given the insect-like alien world of Kosmos, I think Symbion would be a good addition to the Microverse)Solomon KaneStar WarsTransformersWizard of Oz

That seems like it could be pretty off-the-wall and fun. Some of those added elements could definitely bring some unusual wrinkles to any game universe (Hannibal & the A-team join forces with the Care Bears vs. Skeletor...to the death!).

See, here's the thing. If the Cenobites do show up to start something in the Marvel Universe, they're not gonna run into the Avengers, or The X-Men (Well, maybe they run into the X-men, they have fought demons before).

But six to one they're gonna run into Doctor Strange, or The Son of Satan, or Ghost Rider, or one of the other dozens of mystical heroes.

And speaking of X-men.

Pinhead: We will tear your soul apart!

Magik: ....Yeaaaah, been there done that tough guy. Now, Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo standing here, with the big magic disrupting soul sword. So unless you want to involve your dimension with a full scare demon war with mine, you can just turn right around and go back in your puzzle box, and maybe I wont throw it into the sun, seeing as I'm also a mutant who can teleport anywhere in time and space.

PInhead: But... But...

Magik: Okay, you know what? I think I got what's left of Belasco somewhere around here, if you take him will you go away and never come back.

Crinos wrote:See, here's the thing. If the Cenobites do show up to start something in the Marvel Universe, they're not gonna run into the Avengers, or The X-Men (Well, maybe they run into the X-men, they have fought demons before).

But six to one they're gonna run into Doctor Strange, or The Son of Satan, or Ghost Rider, or one of the other dozens of mystical heroes.

And speaking of X-men.

Pinhead: We will tear your soul apart!

Magik: ....Yeaaaah, been there done that tough guy. Now, Sorcerer Supreme of Limbo standing here, with the big magic disrupting soul sword. So unless you want to involve your dimension with a full scare demon war with mine, you can just turn right around and go back in your puzzle box, and maybe I wont throw it into the sun, seeing as I'm also a mutant who can teleport anywhere in time and space.

PInhead: But... But...

Magik: Okay, you know what? I think I got what's left of Belasco somewhere around here, if you take him will you go away and never come back.

Pinhead:.... Okay.

Magik: Ballin.

Indeed so!

Given I would be using my Kyton monster build to represent Cenobites, and they are only PL7, Pinhead and his ilk would have trouble with superheroes. Granted, they could hold their own against normal humans and some of the street-level heroes of Marvel, but not the usual heavy-hitters we tend to follow.

Now, of course the cenobites are not about direct combat or fighting. They are about using one's fears and doubts against them. In this regard, cenobites will be playing on the heroes' complications. Storm will have issues when a cenobite traps her in a coffin and starts to bury her in the ground. If Jean Grey is used after the Dark Phoenix saga (which she is not in my game -- she dies then and there), the cenobites would press upon her all the lives she extinguished during her time as the Dark Phoenix.

That is what a good GM should keep in mind when using villains. It should not always be about the slug-fests. In fact, if a master villain has gotten into a fight, his plans have already failed. Fighting is used as a last resort; when all the villain's schemes and plans have fallen through.

COMPLICATIONSDisability: Without the use of a hearing aid, Rattler is Disabled with hearing-based Perception checks.Motivation: Rattler seeks to eliminate humanity from the world.Secret: Gustav is possessed by the spirit of a Lemurian Serpent Man.